International Women's Day was celebrated in Australia and around the world, on Monday 8 March.

This year’s UNIFEM theme to ‘Empower Women to End Poverty by 2015’ was based on the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The SSTUWA joined UnionsWA for their annual International Women’s Day Sundowner at Solidarity Park, in West Perth.

Attendees enjoying the drinks and delicious food included Anne Gisborne (President), David Kelly (General Secretary) and Bronwyn Croghan (Women’s Officer) from the SSTUWA, Simone McGurk (Secretary and Host) from UnionsWA, the Hon. Sue Ellery (Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council; Shadow Minister for Child Protection; Community Services; Seniors and Volunteering; Disability Services), Yvonne Henderson(the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity) and Giz Watson MLC (Greens member for the North Metro region).

Simone talked about a new CPSU Survey, entitled “What Women Want” which was done in conjunction with the University of Queensland and included 9,500 women.

She also discussed Tony Abbott’s proposed maternity leave, inequality in women’s pay in Australia as well as women’s super being less than men’s, to name just a few topics.

Bronwyn Croghan talked about what International Women’s Day meant to her:

“International Women’s Day is a time for women to come together to celebrate women’s achievements.

“The union movement has a proud history of women unionists campaigning for and achieving major equalities for women working in public education. The gains we have worked to achieve for women should be celebrated, never forgotten and never ever lost.”

History

The first International Women’s Day was held on 19 March 1911 when more than a million women and men rallied for the right for women to vote, work and hold public office.  The inspiration came from a New York march in 1908 against poor working conditions and child labour. 

The colours for International Women’s Day of white, purple and green were the political colours of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), the group responsible for the 1908 demonstration in New York.  Symbolically, white represented purity, purple was for dignity and self-respect, and green stood for hope and new life.

The official date of March 8 was set in 1917, commemorating a strike by Russian women, which resulted in their right to vote.

In Australia, the first International Women’s Day was held on 25 March 1928, with peace, human rights, social, economic and political issues providing focus for discussion.

In WA the first International Women’s Day was on 13 March 1936 and included speeches by prominent men and women of the time. From its inception, this day has stood for equality.

The Present Day

In Australia, women were granted ‘equal pay’ 40 years ago, and that should have been the end to pay inequity in this country. However, in 2010 women on average STILL lag some 17% behind in pay for equal work. In some sectors, like finance and insurance, this gender pay gap expands to 32 %.

73% of single, aged-pensioners are women, and women retire on average with about half the superannuation of men.

Embarrassingly, WA women earn 27% less than men, the worst in Australia, along with the NT.

Australian women are world leaders in many fields from public service, to science, the arts, business, sport and politics. They are ranked among the first in the OECD in gaining tertiary and other educational qualifications and, yet, the gender pay gap has reached its highest level since the mid 1990s according to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA).

According to Mairi Steele, Acting EOWA Director, “Employers can play a significant role in reducing gender pay inequity by looking at their pay rates, policies and practices with a critical eye.”

Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, describes poverty in Australia as having a ‘feminine face’. As she says, poverty should not be the reward for a life time of caring for others. Women and women's work cannot continued to be undervalued.